Suturing is a very time-consuming phase of most surgical operations. Heretofore it has been realized that suturing time can be reduced considerably by the use of stapling techniques. As a consequence, in recent years several types of stapling systems have come into use for surgical suturing.
By way of example, the following U.S. patents illustrate various types of staplers which have been used for suturing purposes: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,604,561, 3,646,801, 4,162,678, 4,316,468, 4,317,451, and 4,485,816, and the references cited therein.
However, prior surgical stapling systems and probe assemblies suffer from a variety of disadvantages, including but not limited to (1) excessive size for the intended application, (2) the need to bend the staples across a stapler anvil resting on the tissue, which may induce severe traumatic effects, (3) the need to extract the stapler anvil from between the staple and the tissue surface after the staples have been implanted, and (4) the inability to maintain precise edge alignment and smoothness between opposing portions of tissue to be sutured. As a consequence, prior medical staplers have been met with varying degrees of success. A need exists for an improved surgical suturing system characterized by a device that precisely aligns the edges of the tissue to be sutured and sutures the incision.